Barriers to growth and key success factors for entrepreneurs

25 August, 2011 — Other — 2 minutes read

Home>Learn>Blog>Barriers to growth and key success factors for entrepreneurs

Funding, Technical know-how, People are the touching stone for success in business.

The biggest barrier to growth is access to finance. The nature of business influences entrepreneurs to constantly look for cash in order to expand, grow and contain raising costs etc. Survey conducted across major cities in Britain shows that of out of those who had applied for finance only very few percentage of business had got approval for loans. Access to cash is the major problem faced by the small and medium enterprises when compared to large-scale multi national organizations.

Money no longer flows from resource rich countries to the so-called developing nations because growth engine runs too slow in these countries. “Startups initially run on personal savings of founders and eventually they have to look at venture capitalist, or a banker to stay afloat says Jeff Williams CEO of Biz starters”. "Many local entrepreneurs are trying to innovate and one of the challenges they have identified in the local entrepreneurial system is the lack of funding, of venture capital,” says Jorge Rodriguez, founder & CEO of Process Automation.

Challenges to start up companies

If entrepreneurs prefer growth instead of control they need to opt for funding by venture capitalist. Or else their choice of growth and survival becomes questionable in the longer run due to scalability and development in technology. Reluctance to accommodate outsider to the company acts as a barrier.

People

Sylvia Mthethwa Managing director of Progress stationery adds that it is very important for a business leader to be surrounded by right people from the start not with standing the challenges

Mthethwa added that it is very important for a business leader or owner to be surrounded by the right people from the start not withstanding the challenges of competitive conditions of service. The former Business Women of the Year also shared her experiences of the challenges she faced when she plunged into her business, with the women attending the event. Mthethwa said she was not well accepted in the stationery business when she started. “Finding the right people to work with in a business is key because they are the ones who are the engine of the business," she said. She further said if a person has made the wrong selection method in getting the right people to work with, that business cannot prosper.

Technical Know-how

Entrepreneurial leaders should always look for complementary skills in areas in which they feel the lack. I.e. through partnership and tie up they can complement and grow. Google guys, Mark Zuckeberg of Facebook, Steve jobs of Apple are some of entrepreneurs who know nuts and bolts of their ventures when they initiated it. But it is not common to find an entrepreneur to be well versed in all technicalities.

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